


Father's Day

by babybrotherdean



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Baby Sam Winchester, Father's Day, Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, toddler Dean Winchester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-15 21:47:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11239899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babybrotherdean/pseuds/babybrotherdean
Summary: It's scary, learning how to be a father.





	Father's Day

**Author's Note:**

> Wanted to write a John thing for Father's Day. He is worried about not being a good dad, but suddenly there are soft babies and everything is okay.

It’s scary, learning how to be a father.

Right from the moment that Mary tells him she’s pregnant, John is convinced that he’s going to fail. He hasn’t had a father since he was a young boy, and his faded memories of Henry Winchester are hardly enough of a guideline to tell him how to conduct himself when Dean finally comes around. Their son is tiny and soft and perfect, and so damn delicate in John’s arms- feels like he shouldn’t be allowed to hold the kid at all, hands roughened from his time in the service and his work at the garage, but Dean looks up at him like he’s hung the damn moon whenever he’s within reach, and John thinks that maybe he’s not doing such a bad job.

“Da,” Dean mumbles at him one day while they’re both half-asleep on the couch, and John feels like maybe his heart is going to burst.

There are the tough days, too. The days when Mary won’t tell him where she disappears to for long stretches of time, and the days when they fight about it. The days when he wakes up disoriented and afraid, forced back into the horrors of Vietnam and struggling to cling to reality. There are the days when neither of them are in any shape to be parents, but through it all, Dean is there- Dean holds them together, always trying to hug their problems away, and there’s something so perfectly untouched and innocent about him that makes John want to cry.

He does cry, when Mary tells him she’s pregnant again.

Sammy is a little bit easier to deal with, because John knows what to expect now. He goes into it ready for anything, and a month after his second child is born, it feels like they’ve finally managed to put together the picture they’ve always wanted. A little picnic at the park, checkered blanket and all, the boys cuddled up together under the sunshine while Sammy babbles at his big brother, and John just watches, a tiny smile on his face.

“Do you know what day it is?” Mary asks him softly, and he glances over to see her watching him, wearing a smile that matches his own.

John shakes his head, and Mary reaches out for his hand, their fingers fitting together. “Sunday?” he guesses, and she laughs at him, warm and easy. “C'mon, it’s definitely Sunday.”

“It’s Father’s Day, sweetheart.” And she leans in to kiss him, then, and she tastes like warm vanilla against his lips. “And here’s to the best father I’ve ever met.”

And maybe that isn’t true, entirely, and John thinks there are plenty of men out there who’ve done a better job than he has, but looking at the boys, and then giving in and gathering the pair of them into his arms just to hear the peals of laughter it elicits from Dean, and the happy little hiccup he gets out of Sam, he thinks- hell.

He thinks maybe it’s not about being the best dad in the whole world, after all. He’s got his family, and he’s got his happiness, and he’s going to do his damnedest to hold onto it and keep them safe. Maybe that’s what it really means to be a father.

All John knows for sure, looking down at the children in his arms is that, terrifying or not, he wouldn’t trade this for the entire world.

**Author's Note:**

> I accidentally left this in my drafts for a couple days, because I didn't realize I hadn't posted it and was wondering why it hadn't gotten any response. Whoops :x


End file.
